This invention relates to a machine for banding bottles and, more particularly, to a machine having a double vacuum head for accomplishing the same.
In carrying out the invention, bottles or containers are carried along a conveying mechanism to a worm screw conveyor where the bottle is guided underneath the label holding mechanism. The label is formed by passing a plastic strip, that is, a tubular flat folded heat-shrinkable strip to a cutting device where the strip is cut at the appropriate location to form a label that is to be passed over the outside of the container or bottle. The label is moved into place by being picked from its strip feeding mechanism through the use of a vacuum to a plurality of vacuum heads on a first wheel that picks up the label or band. Vacuum is then applied to the opposite wheel, and both sides of the plastic strip are then engaged by vacuum heads and, upon travelling in circular paths, the vacuum is first terminated to the lowermost heads as they move downwardly and divergingly away from each other until the final vacuum head loses its source of vacuum and the label drops over the container or bottle. Control of the vacuum to the vacuum heads is made through a pair of manifolds, each having one portion secured to the wheel that carries the vacuum heads and a second portion feeding the first from a vacuum pump. A synchronous drive mechanism is used to connect the conveying mechanism to the pair of wheels to insure a proper rate of movement of the containers is maintained with respect to the wheels. Of course, the speed of the machine may be doubled by supplying a pair of band or label feeding mechanisms above the two wheels carrying the vacuum heads.
The machine is made even more versatile by providing means for changing the relative vertical distance between the vacuum heads and the conveyor mechanism. That is, the heads may be moved downwardly toward the conveyor or the conveyor may be moved upwardly toward the heads. Once the bands or labels are passed over the bottles, the conveyor moves them into the ovens where the plastic material is shrunk to fit tightly over the bottle or container.
This invention comprises an improvement over the apparatus and methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,460 which issued Aug. 5, 1980. That particular reference makes no disclosure of any manifold that is used with the mechanism to control the various heads for securing a cut band or label from a magazine and spreading the same so that a bottleneck may have the band or label fall over the same. Additionally, there is no provision made for moving the vacuum heads with respect to the conveyor for different height bottles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,591 also discloses a bottle banding machine wherein a nest of collars are held in a horizontal position in a magazine and drawn from the magazine. The magazine produces labels which are formed in a funnel position upon removal and, thus, this machine does not have the capabilities of making use of a long tube of preformed labels.
Another machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,210 for opening a tubular band drawn from a reel through the use of a mandrel. A collar mechanism is secured about the outer part of the band and is used to draw the band over the mandrel where its movement is aided through the use of rollers.